Allan Gray beats Ninety One and Coronation in brand awareness

New research by Daily Investor revealed that Allan Gray has the strongest brand among South African investors, followed by Ninety One and Coronation.

On the other end of the scale, Futuregrowth, M&G Investments, Stanlib, Fairtree Capital, and Nedbank had the worst performance among large asset managers.

Daily Investor surveyed over 1,000 South African retail and institutional investors in October 2022 to gain insight into their investment choices.

The results revealed that Allan Gray has the strongest brand among South African investors, with 32% saying they would choose them if they had to invest money with an asset manager today.

Ninety One and Coronation ranked second and third, with Sanlam and Old Mutual completing the top 5.

Large asset managers – who spend far more on marketing – enjoyed significantly better brand awareness than smaller boutique firms like 36One and Counterpoint.

However, there was one exception – Brenthurst. Its higher-than-expected brand awareness resulted from the strong media presence of director Magnus Heystek.

Brenthurst also has a good online marketing strategy, including webinars and newsletters, bolstering awareness around the company.

The chart below provides an overview of the brand awareness of South Africa’s largest asset managers.

Five smaller firms – Brenthurst, 36One, Counterpoint, Ranmore, and Protea Capital Management – were included to show how small firms competed against their larger counterparts.

Brand awareness versus size

An interesting comparison is to look at an asset manager’s brand awareness versus its size to see if it has an effective marketing strategy.

Daily Investor compared brand strength with South African assets under management for this comparison.

The results revealed that Allan Gray had the strongest brand for its size. Sanlam ranked second, followed by Ninety One.

The results show that these three asset management firms have good marketing strategies to reach South African investors.

On the other end of the scale, Futuregrowth, M&G Investments, Stanlib, Fairtree Capital, and Nedbank have the worst brand awareness for their size.

It shows that these firms either do not have strong marketing strategies or that their marketing strategies are ineffective at reaching investors.